Viking Raiders Review

Viking Raiders from Neowulf Games features players grabbing items from 3 different groups and playing actions in order to score a predetermined number of points in each of the groups. This is done by drawing 2 cards, buying a card from the market to put into your tableau, and playing an action card. Actions cards can vary from drawing more cards to raiding opponents. When you raid an opponent, you select one of their 3 groups and they'll add in an equal amount of raid protection cards. You'll then blindly pick a card and if you pick an item you keep it but if you pick a raid protection card, you get nothing. Once someone reaches the set amount of points in each category the game ends and they're the winner.

The Good: A lead is never safe in Viking Raiders. You'll constantly be shuffling cards between players from raids or other actions that can be played. There's no benefit to keeping cards either because there are 2 cards in the deck, Ragnarok and Stormy Seas that as soon as they're pulled everything changes. You'll be forced to get rid of your cards and lose abilities and points. I love that the game even takes shots at everyone. It's mean and hilarious.

The Okay: The first game we played was a player game and it did drag a little more than I anticipated. It took over an hour to get through it not including the teach. This group was also more aggressive than most I think and we all just wanted to screw each other over, repeatedly. The next couple games that we played went much quicker with lower player counts but be prepared to maybe spend more time than you're planning to.

The Not So Good: There are a handful of cards in the deck that are hidden victory points that stay in your hand and are a secret to everyone. I'm not completely sold on these since your points are meant to be public knowledge. If you purchase a card that requires a set amount of points you need to announce it but otherwise you can just sit on that card and hope you get to keep it until the end. It's an interesting concept but I just didn't care for it.

Final Thoughts: If you've been following along, you'll know I love me a good Viking game. Viking Raiders is a great Viking game. It's incredibly thematic and mean but it's also quick to teach and learn. You can always play with the leaders which give players a continuous power for the whole game and it's just a really great way to kick off a game night. I really loved this one. It's going to be one of my first suggestions for every game night for a foreseeable future.

Thanks to Neowulf Games for providing me with a review copy.